Route 129 Rozelle - RockdaleThe genesis of this route was route 120 which started on 30th March 1937 operating from Stanmore to Lilyfield under the proprietorship of Tom Brien. The original route was from Stanmore Station via Percival Street, Parramatta Road, Catherine Street, to Brennan Street, Lilyfield. The southern terminal was extended to Enmore Post Office via Railway Avenue, Liberty St and Stanmore and Enmore Roads, returning via London St, from 26th July 1937. At some later date the Lilyfield terminus was extended to Abattoir Road (now Lilyfield Road), Halloran Street, to a terminus in Joseph St.Brien passed ownership to Spencer Lowe in March 1953, and in turn to R. A. Burglund in August 1955, fleet livery cream with light blue relief. Burglund had previously operated taxi buses on route 79 from Tamarama to Town Hall in competition with Bowden.From July 1957 route 120 was extended from Catherine Street, Lilyfield by Lilyfield Rd (at that time named Abattoir Rd and Storey St), Gordon St, to Alfred Street, Rozelle returning via Cheltenham, O'Neil, Justin and Joseph Sts to the original route.The southern part of the route stemmed from December 1931 when T E Harrigan started route 129 from Rockdale to Tempe Tram Terminus. A minimum of one bus was required to maintain the timetable and in 1941 the Harrigan fleet comprised 1938 Chevrolet m/o 299, 1939 Chevrolet m/o 339 and 1935 Reo m/o 475.In August 1955 Appleby and Nelson (later trading as Tempe Bus Service and Transit Scenic Tours) acquired route 129 from Harrigan and continued operating out of Harrigan’s depot at 1 Marsh Street, Arncliffe. The partnership purchased Burgland’s route 120 in May 1963. On 8th April 1965 they acquired route 227, Sydenham to Stanmore Fire Station from Mrs Priscilla Warren (formerly Mrs Brien). Mrs Warren, also operator of route 222 , commenced the 227 Sydenham — Stanmore Fire Station in 1953.From 6th December 1965 the three routes, 120, 129 and 227, were combined as route 129 from Rozelle to Rockdale.As at 1st June 1966 the weekday service from Rozelle was 6.10am and every 20 minutes until 9.30am, 9.45 and every 25 minutes until 1.55pm, 2.09, 2.35, 2.58, 3.30 and every 20 minutes until 7.40pm. On Saturdays 6.50am, 7.30, 8.10 and every 20 minutes until 12.50, 1.00pm then every 40 minutes until 7.00pm. By 1979 the peak frequency was 30 minutes and off-peak 45 minutes and the Saturday afternoon service was deleted.When Marrickville Metro opened on 16th November 1987 route 129 was renumbered 450. The route was slightly altered at Marrickville to run via Murray St between Edinburgh and Edgeware Roads but the timetable was unchanged.Tempe Bus Service also introduced a new service between Sydenham Station and Petersham Stations via Marrickville Metro. Known as the 449 it was operated by an ex Koala Tours Mercedes Benz 0309 minibuses until the licence was surrendered on 25th January 1990.For many years Tempe Bus Service attempted to extend the 129 from its Rozelle terminus, which was nowhere near any useful passenger destination, up the hill to Rozelle shopping centre. Whilst this would have provided a convenient link up steep hills the various licensing authorities seemed unable to approve the extension, possibly due to a few hundred metres of competition with the government service on Victoria Road. The southern end of the route from Sydenham to Rockdale, where a major shopping centre attracted passengers, was once busy enough to justify conductors at peak times. However the patronage tumbled especially at the northern end and unable to continue profitably Tempe Bus Service sold the 450 to the aforementioned Arrow Coaches from 1st October 1988. Nelsons trading as Intershuttle continued to operate specialist services at the mascot Airport terminals whilst Transit Scenic tours continued to operate route 449 with the Mercedes Benz 0309.Subsequently Arrow surrendered the licence to operate the 450 after the last run on Friday 8th June 1990 and the State Transit Authority took over on an interim basis from the Saturday morning. Three additional buses were allocated to Tempe Depot which ran the service using AD (As Directed) run numbers with crews operating additional shifts. Mercedes Benz 2493 operated the first journey.STA announced that the 450 would cease after the last run on Saturday 30th June 1990 and enthusiasts duly performed last rites for the route. However pressure from local residents and the unions meant that the announcement was premature.A survey of passengers was carried out on 7 November 1990 to identify origin and destinations of passengers and to identify types of ticket used. Those signing a recent petition to retain the 450 were contacted and their views sought. The 450 continued to operate on the interim basis until Saturday 5th January 1991.Renumbered again to 453 the service was truncated to operate between Rozelle and Sydenham Station with only 3 morning and 3 afternoon journeys and no Saturday service. First buses start from, and last buses run to, Tempe Depot. The section between Sydenham and Rockdale was covered by extending route 425. In mid 1991 the route to Rozelle was altered to run from Catherine St via Brennan St and Balmain Road to avoid a difficult right turn into Lilyfield Road.The closure of Tempe Depot from 12th January 1992 saw the 453 transferred to Leichhardt Depot with the first morning run curtailed to start at Sydenham Station and the last run from Rozelle finish at Stanmore Station.The 453 was now the last remnant of private bus operation in the Inner West area and remained so until the last run on Friday 6th May 1994 when it was reduced to school bus service 653. This operated one journey from St Fiacres School in Catherine Street at 2:58pm north to Rozelle along the 453 and around the terminus loop to Lilyfield Road. The replacement 468 shopping hours service operated over only a small part of the 453 route in Lilyfield.

Transit Scenic Tours:After exiting route service as of 25th January 1990, Nelson continued operating as a charter operator under three banners:1. Intershuttle: Specific branding for vehicles operating the Ansett/Domestic Terminal to International Terminal service at Mascot airport under contract to Ansett Golden Wing passengers.2. Nelson's Coaches.3. Transit Scenic Tours.

After the Intershuttle operation ceased, the name Transit Scenic Tours has been used for the entire operation. The Nelson's name was revived in May 2008 with TV 5505 being sign written for Nelson's Coachlines and accredited to Nelsons Coachlines Holdings Pty Ltd. All vehicles Lorivu accreditation were changed to Nelsons Coachlines Holdings in 2009. The sole Nelson's branded vehicle was sold in 2010 and the company remains trading as Transit Scenic Tours, principally operated by Wayne Nelson.

After purchasing two Mercedes-Benz O305G 'bendy' buses from Hawkesford's International Pty Ltd, the trading name Bendy Bus Sydney was adopted in 2012 for bus charter.